The age of digital communication, including information provided through the Internet, has advanced to offer boundless opportunities for a person to seek and be provided with information. However, despite all these advancements, digital communication, including information on the Internet, is not available to all people and does not provide comprehensive and convenient access to useful information regarding local resources, points of interest or events.
In order to have access to digital content on the Internet, as an example, one must have access to a user interface, which is connected to the Internet. The user interface may include a client computer, such as a laptop, a tablet or smartphone, a desktop computer, a video gaming console, and the like, and some connectivity to the Internet, which includes, but is not limited to, a Wi-Fi connection, a broadband connection, a cellular communication connection, etc. In almost all cases, a user must personally own one or both the computer hardware and/or access to network infrastructure connected to the Internet in order to receive digital communication. Therefore, even if the content of the digital communication is free, e.g., a public website which does not require a fee in order to gain access to its content, a user must pay for either the hardware and/or the Internet connection in order to gain access to that content.
Further, the ability to access information at any time and in any place is still very dependent on the ability of a user to assemble a collection of devices or services, all of which require specialized configuration to use.
In addition, a user may not be readily able to receive desired content from the Internet. For example, if a user knows what he or she is looking for, a user can use a search engine, such as Google or Yahoo, to specifically search for content. However, often a user may not be aware of useful information since he or she did not enter a search which returned the helpful information.
As a result of each of these factors, the cost, effort and time required to fully integrate devices and services, all hamper the ability of a user to be provided with digital content which a user would find desirable.
Mobile information access, such as via smartphones and other Internet enabled mobile devices, is not currently generally present at a level that makes digital communication available to the general public. However, the deployment of single or limited purpose machines throughout the world with Internet access or distributing information capability is now expanding the access of digital communication. These devices include point of sale machines, kiosks, ATM machines, public Internet cafes, self-service photography printing, fuel dispensers (commonly referred to as gas pumps), and the like. Unfortunately, all of these devices lack integration with one another.
There is a need for integration of a disparate collection of devices, such as devices connected to the Internet, to allow for optimization of resources and to provide vast and relevant information to the general public at little or no cost to the user.